Important Announcement

9 May, 2020 at 11:36 AM

Through August 2020, Boston University has moved to remote teaching and learning, canceled on-campus activities, and minimized lab research activities. For more information, visit our COVID-19 website.

Events

Upcoming Events

D.C. Alumni & Friends Reception

In light of the growing concerns around COVID-19, Boston University has made the difficult decision to cancel all non-academic gatherings. We will do our best to reschedule the D.C. Alumni event this fall and hope you will be able to join us!

Previous Events

2019 Distinguished Alumni Award Reception

Thursday, May 16, 2019, 5:30-6:45 pm

The BU Castle, 225 Bay State Road

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development are set to host a special evening honoring Gina Ortiz Jones, a recipient of the Department’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. A first-generation American daughter of a single mother, raised in San Antonio, Texas, Jones attended Boston University on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. She graduated from BU in 2003 with a BA in East Asian Studies and a BA and MA in Economics, then joined the Air Force as an intelligence officer and deployed to Iraq. After three years of active duty and reaching the rank of Captain, she returned to Texas in 2006, working for a consulting firm at Fort Sam Houston, advising on Latin American operations. She then served three years as an intelligence analyst for the US Africa Command in Germany, followed by a year at the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, where she received a second master’s degree. In 2008, she joined the Defense Intelligence Agency, ultimately rising to the position of special adviser to the deputy director. In November 2016, she moved to the Executive Office of the President to serve under the US Trade Representative. She left government in June 2017, returning to San Antonio. In August 2017, she announced her candidacy for Congress in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District against incumbent Republican Will Hurd. In March 2018, she won the Democratic primary, earning 41% of the votes in a five-way race, with more than twice the votes of the second-place candidate. She lost the general election to Hurd by 926 votes out of over 210,000 cast.

Co-recipient Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will not attend the event due to congressional commitments.

2018 Distinguished Alumni Award Reception

Thursday, May 17, 2018

The Photonics Center, 8 St. Mary’s Street, 9th Floor Colloquium Room

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development are set to host a special evening honoring Dr. Richard G. Frank, the recipient of the Department’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Richard G Frank is the Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Professor Frank received his Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University in January 1982. His dissertation, “Pricing and Location of Physician Services in Mental Health” was Accepted with Distinction by the BU Department of Economics. In 1986 Professor Frank received a New Investigator Research Award, from the National Institute of Mental Health. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the deputy assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at DHHS directing the office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy. From 2013 to 2014, he served as a Special Advisor to the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, and from 2014 to 2016 he served as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services. His research is focused on the economics of mental health and substance abuse care, long term care financing policy, health care competition, implementation of health reform and disability policy. Prof. Frank served as an editor for the Journal of Health Economics from 2005 to 2014. He was awarded the Georgescu-Roegen Prize from the Southern Economic Association, the Carl A. Taube Award from the American Public Health Association, and the Emily Mumford Medal from Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Mental Health Association of Maryland. Prof. Frank also received the John Eisenberg Mentorship Award from the National Research Service Awards. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Medicine) in 1997. He is co-author with Sherry Glied of the book Better but Not Well (Johns Hopkins Press).

2017 Distinguished Alumni Award Reception

Thursday, May 18, 2017

The Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development hosted a special evening honoring Dr. Jin-Yong Cai, the recipient of the Department’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Jin-Yong Cai earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Peking University in 1982 and his PhD in Economics at Boston University in 1990. Jin-Yong started his career as a Young Professional at the World Bank, from 1990-93, where he worked as an Economist in Central Europe and South Asia. He then joined Morgan Stanley, and in 1994 was seconded as Managing Director to the China International Capital Corporation, at its inception as China’s first joint- venture investment bank. In 2000 Jin-Yong became a Participating Managing Director in Goldman Sachs Group and Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs Gao Hua in China. Twelve years later, Jin-Yong was appointed as the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on private sector development. After serving four years in this position, Jin-Yong became a partner of Texas Pacific Group (TPG) Capital, one of the largest private equity investment firms in the world, where he is based in Hong Kong, leading the firm’s infrastructure investment with a particular focus on emerging markets. Jin-Yong is also on the board of Aon, a leading global insurance broker, the Policy Commission of the Asia Society Policy Institute and the International Advisory Board of King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.

2016 Distinguished Alumni Award Reception

Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development held a special evening honoring Tejash Shah, the recipient of the Department’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Tejash Shah completed the BA/MA in Economics at Boston University in 2001 and went on to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, in 2005. After practicing medicine as a physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital for two years, Tejash joined McKinsey and Company as a Management Consultant. He spent nearly five years with McKinsey before being appointed Director of Corporate Strategy for Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In 2014 Tejash moved from New Jersey to the San Francisco Bay Area where he is currently Director of Strategy and Business Development for Samsung, the giant Korean multinational conglomerate.

2015 Distinguished Alumni Award Reception

Thursday, May 14, 2015

The Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development will present Yukiko Okawa Omura with the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award at Commencement. This alumni gathering will include light fare and cocktails as we honor Yukiko’s accomplishments.After working at the Inter-American Development Bank, J.P. Morgan, and Lehman Brothers, Yukiko went on to serve as Managing Director of Union Bank of Switzerland and of Dresdner Bank AG. Yukiko then became the Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), followed by an appointment as the Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

2014 Distinguished Alumni Award Reception

Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

The Department of Economics honored Santiago Levy as the recipient of the Department’s first Distinguished Alumni Award at the special reception on April 24, 2014. This award recognizes outstanding achievements in any area by graduates of one of the Department’s degree programs. Santiago Levy was a natural choice for our first award both because of his accomplishments and his extensive and long-standing ties to the Department. As one of the fathers of Conditional Cash Transfers or CCT, Santiago played a crucially important role in the development of one of the leading antipoverty programs in the world. He first introduced and oversaw the implementation of PROGRESA (later renamed Oportunidades) when he was Deputy Finance Minister of Mexico. Since then, CCT programs have spread to dozens of countries around the world, including Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Jamaica, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh, Morocco, Peru, and Cambodia. Santiago is also a multiple graduate of our department, having received a BA (1976), MA (1978), and Ph.D (1980) from us. He was a faculty member in the department from 1983 to 1993, serving as the first director of our Institute for Economic Development (1989-1990). He is currently a vice president at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Alumni Event in Washington, D.C.

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development cordially invite you to join us for an evening with old friends, lively conversation and new contacts. The Department wants to reconnect with you by hosting an alumni gathering that will include hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Please feel free to contact some of your college friends and help us spread the word about the event.

Alumni Night

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development cordially invite you to join us for an evening with old friends, lively conversation with some old/new contacts.The Department is continuing our Annual Spring Alumni Night that will include hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Please feel free to contact some of your college friends and help us spread the word about this event.

Alumni Event in Washington, D.C.

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development cordially invite you to join us for the first Graduate Economic Alumni Event in Washington DC. The Economic Department and Institute for Economic Development want to reconnect with you by hosting this alumni gathering that will include cocktails and light fare. Please feel free to contact some of your college friends that you know are in the area and help us spread the word about this event.

Alumni Night

The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development cordially invite you to join us for an evening with old friends, lively conversation and new contacts. The Department wants to reconnect with you by hosting an alumni gathering that will include hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Please feel free to contact some of your college friends and help us spread the word about the event.